Connections in the UK for Babies

08-21-2010, 11:59 AM

Call to mothers and companies:

The current affairs department of the BBC is working to develop a unique TV experiment which will explore a radical alternative to maternity leave that has already been successfully introduced in the USA.

An increasing number of companies in the USA have successfully adopted ‘bring your baby to work' practices - including retail stores, banks, law firms and government agencies. However, rather than just leaving the babies in a crèche at work, these schemes give new mothers the opportunity to simultaneously combine parenting and work: attending meetings, working with colleagues and interfacing with clients - all while looking after their baby. Supporters of these schemes argue there are advantages for all concerned: the businesses minimise maternity leave costs and do not have to hire replacement workers, whilst the mothers' careers can continue virtually uninterrupted and they also retain a closer bond to their children.

We wonder whether this is something that could ever work in Britain.

We are filming a taster tape for the BBC which will give them an idea of how this experiment would work. We are trying to identify a company who are happy to work with us for a day or two in a scaled down version of the experiment.

It would be great to hear from you if you are a small to medium sized business that currently has women away from work on maternity leave OR if you are a new mum currently on maternity leave that would be willing to return to work for the day to see if it is possible to get on with your job and be a parent at the same time.

The filming of this is for a non-broadcast tape and we do not need companies to commit to take part in the series. We hope that it would be an enjoyable experiment for all concerned.

We are hoping to film our taster tape in the next 3 to 4 weeks so potentially filming at some point the week beginning Monday 30th August.

If this project may be of interest to you or your company, please get in touch with Kate Nixon on 020 7033 2036 or email kate.nixon@dragonfly.tv or Carla @ babiesatwork.org or (801) 897-8702.